Better SMF

Better Portal for SMF 2.1

Better Portal was built for one simple reason: creating a useful front page for an SMF forum should not feel like building an entirely separate website.

A portal should make your forum easier to navigate, easier to present, and easier to customize — without turning site management into a complicated mess.

Better Portal keeps that philosophy front and center.

Build pages without fighting the layout

Better Portal gives administrators a flexible page builder that makes it easy to create custom pages using rows, columns, and reusable blocks.

You can build simple one-column pages, balanced two-column layouts, full three-column pages, or whatever structure makes sense for the content you are trying to present.

Each page keeps its own layout and block arrangement, so you are not locked into one global design.

Multiple pages, not just one homepage

Better Portal is not limited to a single portal page.

You can create multiple independent pages and decide which one should act as your Home page.

That makes it possible to build things like:

• A main site homepage
• A Downloads page
• A MOD showcase page
• A Gallery page
• A support or staff page
• Landing pages for individual products or projects

Each page can have its own layout and content.

Built-in preset blocks

Better Portal includes useful preset blocks so you do not have to build everything from scratch.

Available blocks include things such as:

• Custom Text
• Latest Forum Posts
• Latest Topics
• Who's Online
• Forum Statistics
• Forum content blocks

The goal is to make common content available with a few clicks instead of requiring custom coding.

Better MOD integration

Better Portal was also designed to work naturally with the rest of the Better SMF suite.

When supported Better MODs are installed, Portal can expose additional blocks and content from those systems.

Depending on what is installed, that can include:

• Better Gallery albums and media
• Selected Gallery Album blocks
• Better Downloads content
• Better Chat blocks
• Better Reactions & Likes content
• Better Ads placements

This makes Better Portal more than a simple front page builder.

It becomes a way to bring the entire site together.

Forum content can live inside Portal

Better Portal can display forum content directly inside a Portal page.

That means you can create a homepage or custom page that still feels connected to the forum instead of sending visitors back and forth between separate systems.

Board content, topics, posting workflows, and navigation can remain part of the same experience.

A cleaner way to build product landing pages

Better Portal is also well suited for creating dedicated landing pages.

For example, a MOD page can contain:

• Product description and features
• Screenshots from a selected Better Gallery album
• Download links
• Support or discussion links
• Related Better MODs

Update the Gallery album later and the screenshots displayed on the page can update with it.

That keeps the page easy to maintain without duplicating content.

Designed to stay simple

One of the main goals behind Better Portal is avoiding the complexity found in many traditional portal systems.

Creating a page should not require digging through confusing menus or learning an entirely new content-management system.

Blocks are added where you want them, layouts remain easy to understand, and the interface stays close to the SMF experience administrators already know.

Built for desktop and mobile

Portal layouts adapt for smaller screens so multi-column pages can stack cleanly on phones and tablets.

The goal is for the same page to remain useful whether someone visits from a desktop computer or a mobile device.

Built to grow with your forum

Better Portal is being developed the same way as the rest of the Better SMF suite: in careful stages, based on real-world use.

New blocks and integrations are added when they solve a real problem, while keeping the core page-building experience straightforward.

At the end of the day, Better Portal is about giving SMF administrators more freedom without giving them more headaches.